Airfoil ice remover



y 1949- w. A. PULVER 2,471,894

AIRFOIL ICE REMOVER F iled Feb. 5, 1947 INVENTOR.

WILFRID A. PULVER gent Patented May 31, 1949 Wilfrid A. Pul ver, ShermanOaks, Califi, assignor to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank,

Calif.

Application February 3, 1947, Serial No. 725,998

2 Claims.

1 ,Thisinvention relates to removing or breakiiig away] the ice which may have formed on the, leading edges of fixed or movable arlfoils, sficliaslpropellers and the wing and tail surfaces of aircraft.

Aircraftanti icing or dc-icing arrangements n owin use include internal heating of the leading edges of airfoils or inflatable rubber boots applied [over the leading edges. Neither system is: either structurally or economically practical for small and mediumsized airplanes, as a wing heating system involves extensive ducting, heat exchangers, etc, while the inflatable boots now in commercial use are relativel expensive, troublesome and short lived, and affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the forward part of an airfoil -when in use, to say nothing of the complicated pneumatic systems required for the operation thereof.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide asimple ice removal system that can bereadilyinstalled without complex pumping or heating arrangements With the attendant plumbing and ducting systems.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a system of the class described, light enough for installation in small airplanes and adaptable for actuation manually, hydraulically or electrically, depending on the size of the airplane, and/or the type of auxiliary power available therein.

Other objects and features of the invention will be readily understood from the following detailed description of the typical preferred forms of the invention wherein reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ice-removing mechanism embodying the preferred form of my invention as applied to the leading edge of a portion of a wing;

-Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detailed section on the lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side View of a slightly modified forin of my invention;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a detail of the pawl and ratchet mechanism of Figure 4.

While my invention is applicabl to airfoils generally, including propellers, wings and control surfaces, I have chosen to illustrate it as applied to the nose section II] of an airplane wing II, only a portion of which is illustrated in the drawings, it being understood that normally the entire leading edge would be equipped for ice removal.

, 2 A resilient and stretchable rubber-like sheet I2. is snugly fitted tothe skin I3 of the nose section; I I), and the edges thereof secured to the skin. I3 in any suitable manner.

The skin I3 is provided with a number of skin: beads or pockets I4 spaced along the leading edge or nose section at equalintervals determined by' the intended range of movement or stroke of the sheet distorting member to be hereinafter described.

The beads or pockets I4. are of such depth as. to receive a semi-rigid member I5 having a plurality of rollers I6 thereon, the member I5 conforming to the cross-sectional shape of the nose section, and having aslight set or spring to cause the member to hug the nose profile and fit into the beads I4. A plurality of cables I! connect the several members I5, and shallow lengthwise depressions l8 are formed in the skin of the nose section to receive those cables connecting the several members I5 along thelength of the wing, the cables being carried into the interior of the. wing through apertures I9 in the innermost and outermost beads or pockets I4.

In the preferred form of the invention as shown in Figure 1, the members I5 are in one piece, while in the modification of Figure 3, two similar members 20 and 2| initially occupy the same bead or pocket and move in opposite directions when pairs of cables 22 and 23 are actuated.

The members I5, 20 and 2I may be operated manually, hydraulically or electrically, as dictated by the form of auxiliary power available in the airplane. In Figure 1, I have shown a, double acting hydraulic cylinder 24, the piston, rod 25 of which has eyes 26 on both ends to which the cables I! are led over pulleys 21. With this arrangement, assuming that the several members I5 are in their left hand skin beads or pockets I4, energization of the hydrauli'c piston rod to the left will pull the outboard ends of the cables I! to move the several. members I5 to the right until each member drops: into the skin bead I4 previously occupied by the, preceding member I5. The members I5 can thus; be intermittently reciprocated back and forth be-- tween adjacent skin beads I4, there being one: more bead I4 than the number of members I5..

In the modification of Figure 3 the two recipro eating members 20 and 2| simultaneously move in; opposite directions. I have shown a manual con-- trol for the operation thereof, it being understood 1 that the hydraulic mechanism of Figure l is equally applicable to this version, and vice versa.

In this version the cables 22 at the inboard.

end are coupled to a single cable 28 operating in one groove of a double pulley 29, the cable 28 returning to the inboard end of the wing and being coupled to the inboard ends of the cables 23. Similarly, the outboard ends of the cables 22 and 23 are interconnected by a cable 30 engaging the second groove in the pulley 29. It will be evident from this arrangement that rotation of the pulley 29 will simultaneously pull the several members 20 in one direction while pulling the members 2| in the opposite direction. If this operation is to be done manually it would be convenient to locate the actuating mechanism adjacent the pil-ots compartment, but for the sake of simplicity in illustration I have indicated the operating mechanism as applied directly to the pulley 28. A convenient arrangement would be to use a hand lever 3| operating a reversible pawl and ratchet mechanism 32 to pull the set of members 263 one way, while simultaneously pulling the other set of members 2| the other way until each member has been shifted from one skin bead M to the next.

It will thus be seen that I have invented an improved and simplified arrangement for mechanically loosening or removing ice from airfoil surfaces that is readily adaptable for manual or powered operation, and can be easily and economically installed in small or medium sized airplanes.

Having described only typical forms of the invention, I do not wish to be limited to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variations or modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art and/ or fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with an aircraft airfoil such as a wing, ice removing arrangements including a resilient cover overlying the normal surface of the curved leading edge portion of said airfoil, and means for distorting said cover to loosen ice formed thereon, comprising a resilient carrier member adapted to conform to the curve of the leading edge of the covered portion of said airfoil and substantially coextensive with the cover, the

resilient carrier member lying in a plane generally perpendicular to, and extending fore and aft with respect to, the airfoil, means for reciproeating said carrier member spanwise of said airfoil and beneath the cover overlying the same, a series of rollers mounted on said carrier member and adapted to ride on the surface of said airfoil to progressively distort said cover as the carrier member is moved spanwise of the airfoil, the covered portion of said airfoil having a chordwise recess formed therein adapted to receive said carrier member and the rollers mounted therein in the initial or inactive position of said carrier. 2. In combination with an aircraft airfoil such as a wing, ice removing arrangements including a resilient cover overlying the normal surface of the portion of said airfoil, and means for distorting said cover to loosen ice formed thereon, comprising a series of spaced resilient carrier members disposed along the span of the airfoil each adapted to conform to the adjacent chordwise curve of the covered portion of said airfoil and substantially coextensive with the covered surface chordwise thereof, means for simultaneously reciprocating said carrier members through a distance spanwise of said airfoil corresponding to the spacing of said members, and a series of rollers mounted on said carrier members and adapted to ride on the surface of said airfoil beneath said cover whereby to progressively and simultaneously distort said cover as the carrier members are moved spanwise of the airfoil.

WILFRID A. PULVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,201,155 Burgess May 21, 1940 2,297,951 Frank Oct. 6, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 832,205 France June 27, 1938 

